The paint roller and paint roller pan or tray have become the ubiquitous tools of choice for the application of paint in industrial, commercial and residential installations. The paint roller and roller pan are preferred tools for both professional painters and do-it-yourself painters as they combine a rapidity for paint application with low cost and versatility of surface finish not readily achieved by painting by brush or spray painting. Commercial and residential painting by professional painters still may include a significant proportion of paint application by spraying. However, the techniques and equipment for painting by means of roller have evolved to a point where roller application is the typical choice. Rollers and roller pans now come in a wide variety of sizes including pans used by professional painters that will hold over a gallon of paint. Also, the paint roller can be purchased in a wide variety of nap-types offering a variability in the texture of the finished paint surface that is difficult to duplicate by brush or spray. The paint roller handle has been easily adapted to accommodate an extension pole whereby ceilings and upper walls can be painted without resort to ladders or scaffolding.
The use of a paint roller is not constrained to the companion use of a paint roller tray or pan. At the option of the painting contractor, paint may be applied by roller directly from the five gallon paint bucket which is a popular container for paint as purchased for commercial applications. Rigid screens are available that can be placed over a part of the top of an opened five gallon can of paint whereby the painter can soak the roller in the paint and squeeze off excess paint by rolling on the screen. This method works very well and avoids the use of paint roller pans or trays when large quantities of paint of the same color are being applied. However, when the use of ladders and/or scaffolding is required to reach ceilings or other places beyond the reach of extension poles the use of five gallon buckets can be hazardous or completely unacceptable. In those instances recourse must be made to the familiar roller pan. When quantities less than five gallons of a specific color are to be applied it is usually most convenient to use a roller pan.
As with any labor intensive task, the profitability of a specific job for a painting contractor is closely related to how quickly and neatly the journeyman painter can apply paint to the structure using a paint roller and pan. Profitability for the contractor, even business solvency, is also related to the frequency and seriousness of accidental paint spills. When repainting surfaces such as those in commercial office buildings or residences, accidental paint spillage can be very costly to clean up and sour contractor/client relationships. Accordingly, it behooves the painting contractor and journeyman painter to do all that is possible to paint the structures as rapidly as possible, but without increasing the frequency of paint spillage.
A major impediment to the journeyman painter in applying paint is the frequency and care associated with moving a paint roller pan that is filled or partially filled with paint. This task is repeated many times during the course of a paint job. The pan is unwieldy and usually must be picked up and carried with two hands since a commercial roller pan filled with paint can weigh between six and ten pounds and have a bottom surface area of about 1.5 square feet. Even when partly filled the pan is preferably grasped at two points to avoid inadvertent wobbling and spillage. After safely relocating the pan in a new, convenient position the painter must then go back and retrieve his roller which, if it contains an extension handle, can not be transported with the pan. The time and motion involved in the sequence of events required to relocate a paint roller pan adjacent to a surface to be painted represents a significant part of the total time and motion involved to complete the entire painting operation and, therefore, a problem to be resolved. The problem is especially acute where a journeyman painter may be working on scaffolding. Under these conditions, bending down to pick up and move a roller paint pan with two hands must be done with extra care to avoid an injurious fall or spill. Consequently, painting operations carried out on scaffolding are particularly slowed due to the problems associated with relocating the paint roller pan.
Any modifications to paint roller pans that are applied to overcome the foregoing problems are complicated by the traditional routine of the journeyman painter and the painting contractor in cleaning, stacking and storing the many paint roller pans customarily carried in the contractor's vehicle. Appurtenances to the pan that, of themselves, create problems for the contractor are not desired.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a handle means for lifting and moving individual paint roller pans or trays.
It is another object of the invention to provide a readily detachable handle adaptable for use on conventional paint roller pans.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a detachable handle for paint roller pans that includes a means for retaining the handle of a paint roller such that it can be conveniently carried along with the paint roller pan.